Championship week kicked off on Friday night with a massive game, with the Washington Huskies picking up a 34-31 victory over the Oregon Ducks to win the final Pac-12 Championship. With the win, Washington likely claims one of the four spots in the College Football Playoff. That leaves six teams batting for the final three spots on Saturday. One team that was a bit far out, but still had a chance to sneak in were the Texas Longhorns.
While a win would certainly help, Texas needed to make a strong impression in the Big 12 Championship Game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. They did just that on Saturday afternoon.
Texas defeated Oklahoma State by a convincing 49-21 score. Quarterback Quinn Ewers shined in the game, throwing for 452 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception while completing 35-of-46 pass attempts. In total, Texas picked up 663 yards on offense, while their defense limited Oklahoma State to 281 yards.
With the win, what does their outlook for the Playoff look like? WE'll take a crack at the projected rankings after this game.
Projected College Football Playoff after Texas beats Oklahoma State in Big 12 Championship Game
- Georgia Bulldogs (playing Alabama in SEC Championship Game)
- Michigan Wolverines (playing Iowa in Big Ten Championship Game)
- Washington Huskies (defeated Oregon 34-31 in Pac-12 Championship Game)
- Florida State Seminoles (playing Louisville in ACC Championship Game)
- Texas Longhorns (beat Oklahoma State 49-21 in Big 12 Championship Game)
- Ohio State Buckeyes (inactive)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (playing Georgia in SEC Championship Game)
The Georgia Bulldogs hold the No. 1 spot, and likely will keep hold of it if they defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game. Kickoff for that game will be at 4:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. CT on CBS.
No. 2 Michigan face off against No. 16 Iowa in the Big Ten championship at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. ET on FOX.
Washington will likely have the No. 3 spot locked up regardless of how the rest of the day goes.
For Texas, their best chance of sneaking into the College Football Playoff is if the No. 4 Florida State Seminoles lose to the No. 14 Louisville Cardinals in the ACC Championship Game. The ESPN broadcast of the Big 12 Championship Game said that Texas' chances of making it into the Playoff increases to over 80-percent if Florida State loses.
Ohio State can be ruled out considering how well Texas played. The Buckeyes are inactive due to their loss to Michigan last week.
Alabama could shake up the entire Playoff picture if they beat Georgia. Keeping the SEC Champions out of the Playoff would be crazy, to say the least.
Texas fans, be near a television or your phone throughout the day to keep track of the rest of the conference championship games to see if the path for a Longhorns College Football Playoff berth becomes clearer.